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A couple of springs ago, Brad Marchand’s emergence as a rookie playoff hero was one of the most talked-about stories of the NHL post-season.

As the Boston Bruins made a memorable run to the Stanley Cup, Marchand was heralded as a superpest with a better-than-average skill set. Not only did he infamously rapid-punch Daniel Sedin and clothesline Christian Ehrhoff, he also scored five goals in Boston’s four wins in the seven-game championship series victory over the Canucks.

“It’s so surreal,” Marchand said after he’d hoisted the chalice. “It’s unbelievable.”

Watching the ongoing Boston-Toronto best-of-seven, it is, indeed, difficult to believe that Marchand is the same agitator who so enraged a soon-to-be-riotous Vancouver. Heading into Sunday’s Game 6 at the Air Canada Centre, Marchand has been a decided non-factor. Aside from a little jawing with Phil Kessel and a half-hearted swing of his stick at James van Riemsdyk — this after van Reimsdyk jabbed a blade in the direction of Marchand’s privates after a whistle — Marchand has been a nuisance to nobody but Bruins fans who’d like their team’s regular-season goal-scoring leader to make his presence known in the post-season. The winger has zero goals and two assists in five games.

Marchand’s linemates haven’t been much better. Though centreman Patrice Bergeron had a power-play goal in Game 4, winger Tyler Seguin has yet to register a point in the series. That’s a goal and two assists in five games for a three-man unit that combined for 44 goals and 100 points during the 48-game regular season. It’s not difficult to understand why the Bruins have been searching for a method to ignite their first line.

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“I haven’t denied the fact that (Marchand) and that line haven’t been as good,” Julien told reporters in Boston on Saturday.

Julien said he wouldn’t speak specifically about what he wants to see from that group — “That’s not my style,” he said — and certainly some of what ails them is simply tough luck. Seguin plinked a crossbar in Game 2 and a post in Game 5. And Bergeron saw what looked like a sure goal kicked away by James Reimer in a Game 5 save that’s sure to go down as one of the all-time greats in Leafs history.

“I’m seeing the same thing you guys are,” Julien said of the Marchand-Bergeron-Seguin line. “We’re doing some work with those guys to help them find those parts of their game and you hope that that’s going to be the case (Sunday).”

Boston’s first line could be considered a sleeping giant. While they and the rest of the Bruins have been bailed out by the excellence of the trio led by David Krejci, who has five goals and 11 points in the series, the Marchand group has certainly been creating chances. Seguin has 24 shots on goal in five games, more than any participant in the NHL post-season who hasn’t yet scored. And when you add up the shots on goal by Bergeron (22) and Marchand (13), Boston’s most productive regular-season trio is making good on just 1.7 per cent of its playoff shots. The trio made good on 11.7 per cent during the 48-game schedule, which would suggest they’re due to break through.

“I’m sure that we’ve poked the Bruins,” Leafs coach Randy Carlyle said after Game 5. Maybe they have.

Just as the Leafs took solace in the fact that they’d dominated the third period and overtime of a Game 4 loss that hinged on an unwise Dion Phaneuf gamble and a soft Krejci game-winner, the Bruins certainly felt as if they’d hit upon a formula to beat the Leafs in the third period of their Game 5 loss. Boston’s superiority was obvious. They outshot the Leafs 19-4. They possessed the puck for a large majority of the frame. If they arrive for the first period of Game 6 with that third-period purpose, it could be a short night for blue-and-white hopes.

Still, the Boston Bruins are synonymous with this sort of drama. For all their Stanley Cup credentials, five of their past seven post-season series have gone to seven games. More than a few times they’ve squandered series leads with inconsistent efforts like Friday’s. The question was asked of Bruins veteran Dennis Seidenberg after Game 5: hasn’t his team learned from all those blown opportunities to step on opponents’ throats?

“Yeah, I would like to think that we’d learn,” Seidenberg said with a sigh. “We can only hope that we learn from (Game 5).”

What did Marchand learn from Game 5, when he failed to register a shot on goal and was credited with just one hit?

“I’ve got to do something to turn (the scoreless streak) around and get on the scoreboard,” Marchand said. “I think maybe just keep things simple and shoot everything at the net, not try and do too much, make too many plays, just try and take everything to the net.”

Maybe he’ll recapture some of the magic of that 2011 Stanley Cup ride in short order. Or maybe, along with being “surreal” and “unbelievable,” it was also unsustainable. In the 12 playoff games since he hoisted the chalice, the man who had five goals in his career’s four biggest wins has scored precisely once.

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